Accurate, Fresh Map Data Maximizes the Productivity of Routing Applications and Eliminates Inefficiencies for Service Fleets

Challenge

For organizations that routinely dispatch fleet vehicles to multiple locations, communicating the best route to field personnel is a critical component to maintaining an effective level of service. Stanley Steemer is a service-based company providing carpet, furniture, air duct, tile, and hardwood floor cleaning to residential and commercial customers. Instead of using their old paper-based map books or individual phone calls, the company needed a way for field technicians to more efficiently locate jobs and get accurate directions. In addition to obtaining accurate street-level data for use in a door-to-door routing application, Stanley Steemer needed to make sure that all data involving new housing developments and new roads was updated in a timely way and at an affordable price.

Solution

Nearly half of Stanley Steemer‘s 3,100 total vehicles (corporate fleet and franchise fleet) are equipped with GPS devices that feed telemetry data to handheld devices. Stanley Steemer selected NAVTEQ mapdata, licensed through ADCi, to integrate into a proprietary mobile asset management tool used in many of these vehicles. This software gives Stanley Steemer’s field technicians a real-time view of driver locations and also provides these drivers with turn-by-turn directions to their destinations.

During a 30-day trial of NAVTEQ map data, provided by ADCi, Stanley Steemer tested for data accuracy of new road construction in several markets and found all of the new roads available in the NAVTEQ dataset. Yearly updates from ADCi ensure that Stanley Steemer will continue to deliver fresh and accurate data to the field.

Benefits

Licensing NAVTEQ maps through ADCi for use in their routing application has created several advantages for Stanley Steemer. According to Tom Juncewicz, Assistant IT Director for Software Development at Stanley Steemer, the use of fresh map data from NAVTEQ in Stanley Steemer vehicles has “reduced or eliminated” driver requests for directions. Reduced calls to dispatch, as well as shorter drive times to service locations, also translate into lower costs. Because technicians are spending less time searching for a location, they are able to save on gas and make more efficient use of their time on the road. More timely arrivals lead to overall improved customer service for Stanley Steemer.

It is crucial for Stanley Steemer to have the freshest, most up-to-date map data in their vehicles because they operate in both commercial and residential areas. New housing developments, building construction, and street changes constantly affect routes for the fleet. ADCi provides map data updates annually to Stanley Steemer, allowing field technicians to stay ahead of the ever-changing road network. This further strengthens the reliability of Stanley Steemer’s service fleet and increases customer satisfaction.

About NAVTEQ

NAVTEQ is the leading global provider of location content in the form of maps, traffic and places data that enables navigation, location-based services and mobile advertising around the world. NAVTEQ supplies precise, comprehensive location content to power automotive navigation systems, portable and wireless devices, Internet-based mapping applications and government and business solutions. The Chicago-based company was founded in 1985 and has approximately 5,800 employees located in 200 offices in 54 countries.

About Stanley Steemer

For more than 60 years, Stanley Steemer has been bringing cleaner, more comfortable homes to America. To serve customers nationwide, Stanley Steemer now boasts over 300 locations in 48 states. From a humble, one-man, one-truck beginning in Columbus, Ohio, Stanley Steemer has always been driven to deliver the best, and proud to stand behind every service 100 percent.

About ADCi

Headquartered in Appleton, Wisconsin, American Digital Cartography, Inc. (ADCi) has specialized in providing digital mapping products and services since 1988. As a leading distributor for NAVTEQ, ADCi has helped customers in every market successfully secure the correct data and license for their mapping application, including government, utility, transportation, education, business and Internet-based applications. Maps are available in a variety of formats and available by the city, county, state, or entire countries, and provided in virtually any coordinate projection.